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Help with a boat purchase

Hi everyone - new member to the forums and basically a new potential owner as well looking for some advice on a boat that I looked at today.

The boat is a 2003 Moomba Mobius LSV. The engine has 655 hours on it, it has perfect pass, tower, tower lights, stereo, a 310 HP engine, ski locker ballast, etc. The questions I have are below - I would appreciate any feedback anyone can provide:

1.) The engine is a 310 HP carburetor engine. Any issues with this over one with Fuel injection on it? The carb was rebuilt about a year ago and the dealer has serviced it for at least the last 8 years and can provider service records for it.

2.) The ballast in the boat is just in the ski locker. I can easily plumb more into the rear lockers but with it being a relatively shallow boat I am wondering what size of bags to put into it to get the best wake. Also if anyone has pictures of the wake from this boat with the ballast setups I would appreciate it. The boat does have the wake plate to help clean the wake up.

3.) The boat is on a single axel trailer. A majority of my towing will be done within 5-10 miles of my house so I don't think this will be an issue but wanted to get opinions just to make sure.

4.) Any general feedback? They want $23,500 for the boat - not sure if this is too high or not quite yet but still researching that some more. Otherwise for those that have had the boat what did you like/dislike about it - anything that I should be looking out for? The boat is in really good condition from what I saw just looking at it - want to make sure I am covering myself.

Hi everyone - new member to the forums and basically a new potential owner as well looking for some advice on a boat that I looked at today.

The boat is a 2003 Moomba Mobius LSV. The engine has 655 hours on it, it has perfect pass, tower, tower lights, stereo, a 310 HP engine, ski locker ballast, etc. The questions I have are below - I would appreciate any feedback anyone can provide:

1.) The engine is a 310 HP carburetor engine. Any issues with this over one with Fuel injection on it? The carb was rebuilt about a year ago and the dealer has serviced it for at least the last 8 years and can provider service records for it.

Sounds like the dealer can verify it, I only had the EFI. So I can't speak to the carb but many members are still going stron on older carb indmar engines

Originally Posted by garveyj

2.) The ballast in the boat is just in the ski locker. I can easily plumb more into the rear lockers but with it being a relatively shallow boat I am wondering what size of bags to put into it to get the best wake. Also if anyone has pictures of the wake from this boat with the ballast setups I would appreciate it. The boat does have the wake plate to help clean the wake up.

The Lsv up to 2005 and the 06 to 08 obv have the same hull. You can search a lot, but many of s loaded our boats pretty good. I upgraded from GI to GIII plus the bow sac, 400 in the center, 750 in the rears and 650 in the bow.

i had the stock prop 13 x 17.5 and it struggled when all loaded. Search can you surf and obv on here. Lots of good pic.

Originally Posted by garveyj

3.) The boat is on a single axel trailer. A majority of my towing will be done within 5-10 miles of my house so I don't think this will be an issue but wanted to get opinions just to make sure.

singe is just fine , boat only weighs 3 k

Originally Posted by garveyj

4.) Any general feedback? They want $23,500 for the boat - not sure if this is too high or not quite yet but still researching that some more. Otherwise for those that have had the boat what did you like/dislike about it - anything that I should be looking out for? The boat is in really good condition from what I saw just looking at it - want to make sure I am covering myself.

With 650 hrs and 10 years you should be able to wiggle them down a little but depends on what part of the country you are in..

we were very happy with our obv for fours seasons.

Originally Posted by garveyj

Thanks for the input!
Jeff

................

Last edited by bergermaister; 02-26-2013 at 02:07 AM.
Reason: Cleanin up Joe's mess!

The most important factor is the condition of the boat. You can do a NADA search to see what the "book value" is and maybe use that in your argument. Post up a pic or two if you have access to any. We'd love to see what she looks like. Also, tell us what part of the country you are in. Good luck!

will only comment on #3.
old supra was on a single axle. new boat is dual axle. that single axle was a dream to move around the garage and it's overall ability to be positioned without a vehicle was awesome. dual axle won't budge from it's spot at all and even getting the tongue to move a foot or so is a complete chore.
towing, the single towed just fine, but it did have a lot more "bounce" than the dual currently. I never towed more than 15 miles to the ramp so the single was fine. that being said, I just towed the boat 1800miles to it's new home and I'm very glad I had a dual. a flat at 70 on a single could be a recipe for disaster. the extra peace of mind was worth it. if I was comparing 2 boats, I'd take the dual axle every time, but would not discount a new boat due to a single trailer..
my .02.. good luck..

My buddy had a 2000(?) Outback with a carb'd 350. He ran it for years and I drove/rode it more than a couple times. We had zero issues with it, the perfect pass held speed well. I put A LOT of hours in a carb'd 98'(?) Malibu and had zero issues with that as well. 655 hours is nothing to worry about, have a compression check done on the engine and do a visual inspection for possible overheats (scorched mufflers, missing paint on RWP, etc.). I'd plan to reprop this boat if it is still running the original but wait to see what your top speed/rpms are once you have the ballast full first to ensure to get max performance.

I've not ridden this gen LSV so I can't comment on the wake size but I would def. beef up the ballast system. Pretty sure you know the right peeps to get that done. A quick measurement of the rear storage will let you know what bags will work but my guess is V-Drive sacs will fit really well with 750lb'rs ending up a bit to big. I'm not sure if you guys are skiing but if you are not 150lbs of lead under the bags will really help maximize wake if you can't fit 750's in the rear lockers. Depending on the boat I've countered that lead with 75-150 in the bow, keep in mind you need the boat to be correctly balanced on the trailer, to much weight in the back and the trailer will sway like CRAZY going down the freeway.

I like single axle trailers, easier to move by hand once in the garage. Make sure to get a spare just in case you have a blow out. Heather and I took an X-14V north of Emily, MN last year with no worries.

We sold an 04' LSV with similar hours for around 25K. We had already upgraded the ballast, installed surf tabs and some other options so $23,500 is in the range but obviously try to work them down (since it's not on our lot!).

I've had a blow out with a single axle at 70 mph. Not that bad. Towing with a Suburban though. I like the single axle as I've always had to move around in tricky garage spaces and I can move it myself-- no prob.

Looks like a nice clean boat. Gonna need a hair dryer though. That year had hideous graphics but you can update and make it look like a 2008 if you want to.